Boston’s spirit won’t be broken

Thursday

Apr 18, 2013 at 6:00 AMApr 18, 2013 at 6:15 AM

By Dianne Williamson

Chelsea Trim may have been saved by a sandwich.

The 20-year-old Worcester woman was standing with friends in the finish line area of the Boston Marathon when she got hungry and decided to dash to Panera Bread a block away. She made quick work of a turkey panini, not wanting to miss a friend cross the finish.

She was gone for 15 minutes. When she turned the corner to return to her spot on Boylston Street, the world had collapsed beyond comprehension.

“All I could see was people screaming, crying and running in every direction,” said Chelsea, a student at Boston University. “It was just chaos. There were people on the ground. It was difficult to tell who was injured and who wasn’t.”

She called the day the longest of her young life, but she’s well aware it could have been longer. She has trouble sleeping and can’t help relive the horror. She understands, in a world rife with random events, that her trivial decision may have saved her life, or spared her limbs.

On Tuesday, she attended a vigil for the victims. Yesterday, police continued their investigation in hopes of finding whoever is responsible. For many, though, identifying the source of the terror does little to alleviate it.

“Even if we say we’re not afraid, it doesn’t mean we’re really not,” Chelsea said. “The reality of everything is so unclear.”

And once again, we’re told that our lives will never be the same, that a city has been changed forever, that yet another terrifying attack has assailed our sense of comfort and security. The 24-7 news coverage bombards us still with graphic images of violence. People are skittish, on high alert, shaken by false alarms.

This is understandable. On a day set aside for the unity of a hallowed sporting event, terrified people were scattered by shrapnel. On a holiday honoring our earliest war, the legs of peaceful citizens were ripped from their bodies. Within hours of the carnage, the picture of a doomed little boy who once held a sign that read “No more hurting people” became iconic and heartbreaking.

“For all of our patients their lives will be divided into two parts,” Dr. Ron Walls, chief of emergency medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital told the Boston Herald. “The part before the blast and the part after. It was for most of our patients something that no one can be prepared for.”

No one can steel themselves against random acts. But it helps to remember that such events are rare, that the odds you’ll be killed or maimed in a terrorist act are much lower than, say, the odds you’ll be hurt in the car you drive every day. The best response to those who mean to scare us is to go about our lives.

Jane Raabis of Worcester, a 56-year-old teacher at North High, ran her first Boston Marathon on Monday. She was stopped a half mile from the finish line. It took more than 30 minutes to connect with her husband and learn he was OK.

“I never thought I could run that far,” she said. “It was so weird to run all that way and just stop. Somebody robbed me of my chance to cross the finish line. But I’m grateful I have another day. I can run again.”

Raabis and others were clear — only a moment was stolen, one that will be relived. Throughout the city of Boston and indeed around the country, runners continue to keep their eye on freedom and the finish line. Within hours on Monday, two talking heads wondered if the Marathon should be canceled next year. No one has dared pose that question again.

Three days after a lunatic tried to bring Boston to its knees, its people have barely broken stride. Boston will remember, but it will not brood. And the nation stands united with the latest city forced to show its resilience to the world.